New efforts!

[Angel Phoenix77]

Will the group looking to buy CoH still interested of just a 'snapshot' as it was called, of the game?  or would it make the price more negotiable?  Sorry,  I'm not techie and don't understand much of what it will take to get the game back to working order.  I get from what others have said the coding was unique and maybe abit of a mess, but just ending up with a snapshot of that unique mess seems worrisome.  Is it still possible to put the game back together with just that?   

While I am sure these might be different, think of it as uploading a system image from a backup. before something happens to your computer, you would make a system back up a flash drive or dvd; than something happens and you computer is messed up you can than put the backup copy into a bootable drive, you can than restore you computer to how it was before it was messed up.

I am thankful to Ironwolf and the team for trying to get the game back; personally it would be awesome to get account info back. but thinking about what we have now, I would not mind a clean slate :)

[MWRuger]

It seems to me the relational part of the character data and account data has to be the global. It possible, quite likely actually, that the global is just a string of numbers meant to be matched with a translation table that links the two data bases. Also is it a randomly assigned key or something generated by using the global as a key? (doubtful since you could change your global and not loose access to your data, but it could have just been updated with a new unique key)

Without that table, it would be difficult to get at the data reliably.

But it should be possible to query out and character's name and original server. If a player can prove who there are in RL and provide that information, a query of the data should provide the global string and thus associated character data.

There would have to be fairly stringent id checks involved. Even if you don't have access anymore you wold likely need to know the email associated with the account.

It really hinges on whether the global translation table is available and whether email is associated with character data.

If not, identifying what's what and who's who is problematic. It could still be done, just not easily (read cheaply).

[Fridgy Daiere]

I wonder, if the team is posting here without us knowing their identity :)

My guess would be yes since it's been stated that they don't want to be bombarded with IMs and questions during the negotiating process.

The real question is whether or not they gonna pop out of a giant cake during the reveal.
And whether or not I can have some.

[hejtmane]

Please understand - if/when the deal goes through - the new owners will not have screwed over ANYONE.

They are working with NCSoft to get as much back as possible. It won't be easy to unpack what NCSoft shutdown. The game at this stage is not on one DVD or even in one collected form that you can just load on a server and fire up. Some of the tools were custom made, account data is just about a - not going to happen at this stage, Character data is a maybe. The new group had nothing to do with how NCSoft shutdown the game or in how or what they retained.

Please also realize the group doing this is trying as hard as they can to get the game back. It maybe that Issue 24 is the farthest CoH1 will go because it may be faster and easier to make CoH2! There are many obstacles. We are still fighting and trying and that is all we can do. The pressure is very heavy and I KNOW they feel the deep responsibility to the Community. They will get the game back in the best possible form if it is possible.

If it was easy - why would you need Heroes?

Wolf I said before and I will say it again if I have to start from ground zero with my toons; I am game because the rest of the MMO's are so dull to play now after COH and I been doing MMO's all the way back to the UO days. I hope you guys get the core game back in the best of condition. Hoping for more good news.

Thank You and the group for the effort

[MWRuger]

Yes, we cant say often enough how grateful we are to Ironwolf and the team working on getting our City back.

All offers of aid are gratefully extended as well as thanks! The acrimony and concern that arises is an aspect of our love for the game (however we perceive it).

We are with you, always. We may joggle your hand but we don't mean to.

[jacknomind]

Ironwolf, I may not be a contract lawyer, but would it be possible to include as part of the deal with NCSoft amnesty for any former employees who may have retained access to CoH assets?

Obviously, actually coming forward would be career suicide, but I envision a loophole whereby your White Knights could spread the word around that any tools that happened to find their way back would be appreciated, and since there would be no contract violation occurring, it wouldn't be necessary to investigate the exact source of said asset. 

[Harpospoke]

Thanks for the info on account info vs. character info.  In that scenario, what I really want is the character data, assuming that also includes what my character was carrying at shutdown.  The money items have work-arounds.  For example, the new owners could just include all the costume parts that existed in the game, no matter the source, in the revamped game at the start.  Rather than resell us back the old stuff, dazzle us with new things to buy.  From what I have seen, I think the costume stuff is what people seem to care about most.  The other things can be hammered out.

That's my preference as well if I were given a choice between those two things.

You know what.. Its not about having super expensive stuff.. sorry thats the impression you took from that.. but anyway... what I have been saying pretty consistently is that for me personally I am not the person I was ten years ago... my time and my energy that I invested into getting those things will not be available to me this time around if everything is successful. Ten years into a marriage now.. a four year old son now.. life has changed dramatically.. but again thats my issue...

So sorry if my post with super expensive stuff was taken the wrong way.. but Im done talking about it now.. because until there is an actual deal in place.. there really is nothing else to say about the matter and no matter what I think or feel it wont change the eventual outcome..

I didn't take it that way.  Seemed like you were just explaining the passion you put into one of your characters and how difficult it would be to replace it.

There is an interesting vibe to some of the posts.

I sincerely doubt any of our past loot will be restored.

The word "loot" is very negative.  That implies something was achieved/obtained in a dishonest manner. 

a lot of people in this thread are too greedy

I don't get this either.  Another negative term.

We are just talking about the game returning.  Some would like to see I24...are they being "greedy"?   Some want the bases redesigned...."greedy"?   Some want their characters back...."greedy"?   Some want costumes back..."greedy"?

We all want the game back....is that "greedy" too?

When we talk about "City of Heroes" there are a lot of elements which make that term what it is.  ...And those elements are different for each person.    "Wanting it back" isn't the same thing for everyone.

[AlienOne]

Ironwolf, I may not be a contract lawyer, but would it be possible to include as part of the deal with NCSoft amnesty for any former employees who may have retained access to CoH assets?

Obviously, actually coming forward would be career suicide, but I envision a loophole whereby your White Knights could spread the word around that any tools that happened to find their way back would be appreciated, and since there would be no contract violation occurring, it wouldn't be necessary to investigate the exact source of said asset.

Technically, said developer could say that their services were retained to "recompile" said tool...

:P

[Minotaur]

What's worrying me is that the devs said the reason they didn't release I24 at the end was that it was too buggy to do so. If the only code snapshot is I24, I'm not sure how playable the game would be.

[Harpospoke]

As much as I'd like my chars back, if the account data isn't available, I don't see how they could really reconcile char data back to original owners.

I've got mine saved on the Sentinel files so there is that.

[Harpospoke]

I think re-building CoH is a newer engine is probably for the best in the long run. In the interest of transparency, I do develop Atlas Park:Revival (Which I really should re-name to CoH: Revival since I've moved on from just doing AP)

The CoH Engine was old, it's tools were difficult to work with at best, and It was a tangled nightmare (according to the CoH Devs themselves).
Now, they did some AMAZING things with their engine...Thanks, I believe, to their complete love for us (the community), and the game itself.
If it's going to cost millions of dollars to buy the right to develop using it...I don't believe it to be worth the cost.

Now, I've heard a lot of argument against doing so. Things like "It wouldn't play like CoH", "It just wouldn't have the same feel.".
Unreal is just a game engine. WHAT you do with Unreal is up to the developer. If your goal is to make City of Heroes in a new engine, there's nothing to stop that. You just have to put the time in. Trust me, I know how much time it takes to re-build CoH in a new engine! :P

I wouldn't mind seeing CoH through the UR4 engine at all.    8)

[hejtmane]

So basically if I read what you are saying correctly. They have the ability to get the game up and running at some point should a purchase be successful. However further development on that same engine would not be feasible. At that point they would be better of developing a " modern " game on a new engine.

Well I have always said that if CoH was running in an Issue 24 maintenance mode and never developed anything further than that they would have still gotten my 15 bucks a month....

So to that all I can say is..

    Shut Up and Take My Money..

Amen

[sindyr]

I played I24 extensively at the end. I encountered no bugs.

I wouldn't worry about it.

On another subject, I just know in my heart that when and if Ironwolf comes back to us and says, "we got it", I'm simply going to burst into happy tears of profound relief.

It's probably weird to have such a reaction to a game, but that's how much joy the game has brought me. (And conversely, that's how horrid the other options out there for MMOs are right now.)

[Dr. Bad Guy]

Yes, the whole of my post is - the CoH game engine is likely not worth the money to buy. Get the game running - start development on CoH2 and move it to Unreal4 or whatever engine seems likely.

I know this is very sobering. I said from the start I would tell you what I can openly and honestly. Running from the truth and facts is silly. I will again state this is the status of things at this point. It might change but it seems very unlikely. I would say the most realistic situation is that the game will re-open at Issue 24 with some sort of Open Beta.

You will most likely have to start over again, however it depends on what form the Character databases are in as to whether they can tie them to players. It would be a real tragic thing to have someone else take all of your work on your past characters. Maybe seeing the game at the start as an alternative reality where the old dimension was destroyed might be the best fit. Things might change and until they get the stuff actually in their hands the folks don't know what can be done.

If they hen decide to port COH over to Unreal I believe someone is already rendering art assets into Unreal at this time. (Atlas revitalized or something like that) Somebody might want to hook these people together.

[ukaserex]

All this speculation pleases me. Makes for a good holiday weekend. Looking forward to how this all turns out.

I think it would be really amazing to read or hear something about how this game came back from the MMO graveyard.

[Fridgy Daiere]

On another subject, I just know in my heart that when and if Ironwolf comes back to us and says, "we got it", I'm simply going to burst into happy tears of profound relief.

Imagine Ironwolf posting that and only that...then ducking out and not answering questions for several hours.  The villain in me is laughing maniacally at the chaos that would ensue.

Not that he would ever do that!   ;D

[AlienOne]

Imagine Ironwolf posting that and only that...then ducking out and not answering questions for several hours.  The villain in me is laughing maniacally at the chaos that would ensue.

Not that he would ever do that!   ;D

I wish he would.... That would go down in MMO history as a defining moment.

[AlienOne]

I took the other posts off sticky (Google, etc.) and stickied this one. The other efforts seem to have piddled out to nothing and this is our current best bet. Better to keep it up at the top of the list.

THANK YOU!!! I mentioned something about his earlier in the thread... Thanks for "sweeping up!" :)

[Stefan Zubal]

This thrills me. Still have stuff backed up, but willing to build up from zero.

MAC compatible? or do I have an excuse to get a PC.........

[FloatingFatMan]

I've got mine saved on the Sentinel files so there is that.

I very much doubt they'd even entertain the notion of allowing those files to be used.  For a start, they don't contain enough information to rebuild a character completely.